Forewarned is forearmed

Microbiologist Ben Harris talks about his family’s pandemic preparedness:

Our family of four has stockpiled a sack of rice, chick-peas, lentils and extra stocks of oatmeal for porridge, to keep links with our Scottish heritage!

We have canned tomatoes on hand and packet soup for flavourings. We also have many litres of tap water in plastic bottles filled to the top, capped and stored in a dark place.

We have a few masks handy, but no gloves. 'Always consider hands as dirty until washed' is our philosophy.

We have extra paracetamol to help reduce any fevers, Tamiflu for four people, spare batteries and some cash.

Finally, we have done what we knew we ought to have done years ago for earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters.

In our family discussions we have raised awareness of practical issues such as cough etiquette; cough into the elbow, not the hand, if no tissues are available.

Forewarned is forearmed. Now we can get on with our lives with some peace of mind that extra security is in place.